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Angel

This article is about thecosmicspirits. For other uses, seeAngel (disambiguation).

"Angelology" redirects here. For the novel, seeAngelology (novel).

Not to be confused withAngle.

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Anangelis a low-ranked spiritual being superior tohumansin power andintelligence.In Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and
Zoroastrianism angels are celestial beings that act as intermediaries between
heaven and earth.Most of
them serve either asintermediariesbetweenHeavenand
Earth, or asguardian spirits.Angels are referred to in connection with
their spiritual missions; as for instance, the "angel which has
redeemed", "an interpreter", "theangel
that destroyed", "the messenger of the covenant",
"angel of his presence", and "a band ofangels of
evil".InChristian Science, the word "angel" is used
to refer to an inspiration from God.

The use of the term has extended to refer to artistic depictions
of the spirits, and it is also used figuratively to refer tomessengersandharbingers, and to people who possess high qualities
ofgoodness,purity,selflessness,intelligence, and/orbeauty.

In fine art,
angels are usually depicted as having the shape of human beings of
extraordinary beauty;they
are often identified using thesymbolsofbirdwings,halos, andlight.

Etymology

The wordangel(pronounced /ˈeɪn.dʒəl/) in
English is a blend ofOld Englishengel(with a hardg) andOld Frenchangele.Both derive fromLate Latinangelus"messenger", which in turn was
borrowed fromLate Greekἄγγελοςángelos.
According toR. S. P. Beekes,ángelositself may be "an
Oriental loan, like ἄγγαρος ['Persian mounted courier']."The word's earliest form isMycenaeana-ke-roattested inLinear Bsyllabic
script.

Theángelosis the default Septuagint's translation of
theBiblical Hebrewtermmal’ākhdenoting simply "messenger"
without specifying its nature. In the Latin Vulgate, however, the meaning
becomes bifurcated: whenmal’ākhorángelosis supposed to denote a human messenger,
words likenuntiusorlegatusare applied. If the word refers to some
supernatural being, the wordangelusappears. Such differentiation has been
taken over by later vernacular translations of the Bible, early Christian and
Jewish exegetes and eventually modern scholars.

Zoroastrianism

InZoroastrianismthere are different angel-like figures. For
example, each person has oneguardian angel, calledFravashi. They patronize human beings and other creatures, and also manifest
God's energy. TheAmesha Spentashave often been regarded as angels, although
there is no direct reference to them conveying messages,but are rather emanations ofAhura Mazda("Wise Lord", God); they initially
appeared in an abstract fashion and then later became personalized, associated
with diverse aspects of the divine creation.

Neoplatonism

In the commentaries ofProclus(4th century, under Christian rule) on theTimaeusofPlato, Proclus
uses the terminology of "angelic" (aggelikos) and
"angel" (aggelos) in relation to metaphysical beings.
According toAristotle, just as there is aFirst Mover,so,
too, must there be spiritual secondary movers.

Abrahamic
religions

Judaism

TheTorahuses the (Hebrew) terms מלאך אלהים (mal'āk̠ 'ĕlōhîm; messenger of
God), מלאך יהוה (mal'āk̠YHWH; messenger of the
Lord), בני אלהים (bənē'ĕlōhîm;sons of God) and הקודשים (haqqôd̠əšîm; the holy ones)
to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angels. Later texts use other
terms, such as העליונים (hā'elyônîm; the upper ones).

The termמלאך(mal'āk̠) is also used in other books of theTanakh. Depending on the context, the Hebrew word may refer to
a human messenger or to a supernatural messenger. A human messenger might be a
prophet or priest, such asMalachi, "my messenger"; the Greek superscription in
theSeptuaginttranslation states theBook of Malachiwas written "by
the hand of his messenger" ἀγγέλουangélu. Examples of a
supernatural messengerare the "Malak YHWH," who is either a messenger from God,an aspect of God (such as theLogos),or God himself as the messenger (the "theophanicangel.")

ScholarMichael D. Coogannotes that it is only
in the late books that the terms "come to mean the benevolent semi divine
beings familiar from later mythology and art."Danielis the first biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name,mentioningGabriel(God's primary messenger) in Daniel 9:21
andMichael(the holy fighter) in Daniel 10:13. These angels are part of Daniel's
apocalyptic visions and are an important part of all apocalyptic literature.Coogan explains the development of this concept of angels: "In the
postexilic period, with the development of explicit monotheism, these divine
beings—the 'sons of God' who were members of theDivine Council—were in effect demoted to what are now known as
'angels', understood as beings created by God, but immortal and thus superior
to humans." This conception of angels is best understood in contrast todemonsand is often thought to be
"influenced by the ancient Persian religious tradition ofZoroastrianism, which
viewed the world as a battleground between forces of good and forces of evil,
between light and darkness."One of these ishāšāṭān, a figure depicted in (among other places) theBook of Job.

Philoof Alexandria identifies the angel with the Logos inasmuch as the angel is
the immaterial voice of God. The angel is something different from God himself,
but is conceived as God's instrument.

In post-Biblical Judaism, certain angels
took on particular significance and developed unique personalities and roles.
Although thesearchangelswere believed to rank among theheavenly host, no systematic hierarchy ever developed.Metatronis considered one of the highest of the
angels inMerkabahandKabbalistmysticism and often serves as a scribe;
he is briefly mentioned in theTalmudand figures prominently in Merkabah
mystical texts. Michael, who serves as a warriorand advocate for
Israel (Daniel 10:13), is looked upon particularly fondly.Gabriel is mentioned in theBook of Daniel(Daniel 8:15–17) and briefly in the Talmud,as well as in many Merkabah mystical texts. There is no evidence in Judaism
for theworship of angels, but there is evidence for theinvocationand sometimes evenconjurationof angels.

According toKabbalah, there are four worlds and our world is the last
world: the world of action (Assiyah). Angels exist in the worlds above as a
'task' of God. They are an extension of God to produce effects in this world.
After an angel has completed its task, it ceases to exist. The angel is in
effect the task. This is derived from thebook of Genesiswhen Abraham meets
with three angels and Lot meets with two. The task of one of the angels was to
inform Abraham of his coming child. The other two were to save Lot and to
destroySodom and Gomorrah.

Jewish philosopherMaimonidesexplained his view of angels in hisGuide for the PerplexedII:4 and II

... This leadsAristotlein turn to the demonstrated fact that
God, glory and majesty to Him, does not do things by direct contact. God burns
things by means of fire; fire is moved by the motion of the sphere; the sphere
is moved by means of a disembodied intellect, these intellects being the
'angels which are near to Him', through whose mediation the spheres [planets]
move ... thus totally disembodied minds exist which emanate from God and
are the intermediaries between God and all the bodies [objects] here in this
world.

— Guide for the Perplexed II:4, Maimonides

Maimonideshad a neo-Aristotelian interpretation of
the Bible. Maimonides writes that to the wise man, one sees that what the Bible
and Talmud refer to as "angels" are actually allusions to the various
laws of nature; they are the principles by which the physical universe
operates.

For all forces are
angels! How blind, how perniciously blind are the naive?! If you told someone
who purports to be a sage of Israel that the Deity sends an angel who enters a
woman's womb and there forms an embryo, he would think this a miracle and
accept it as a mark of the majesty and power of the Deity, despite the fact
that he believes an angel to be a body of fire one third the size of the entire
world. All this, he thinks, is possible for God. But if you tell him that God
placed in the sperm the power of forming and demarcating these organs, and thatthisis the angel, or that all forms are
produced by the Active Intellect; that here is the angel, the "vice-regent
of the world" constantly mentioned by the sages, then he will recoil.–Guide for the PerplexedII:4

Jewish angelic hierarchy

Maimonides, in hisYad ha-Chazakah: Yesodei ha-Torah, counts ten ranks of
angels in the Jewish angelic hierarchy, beginning from the highest:

Rank

Angel

Notes

1

ChayotHa Kodesh

SeeBook of
Ezekiel chs. 1 and 10

2

Ophanim

SeeEzekiel chs. 1
and 10

3

Erelim

SeeBook of Isaiah 33:7

4

Hashmallim

SeeEzekiel 1:4

5

Seraphim

SeeIsaiah 6

6

Malakim

Messengers, angels

7

Elohim

"Godly beings"

8

Bene Elohim

"Sons of Godly beings"

9

Cherubim

SeeTalmud Hagigah

10

Ishim

"manlike beings", seeBook of Genesis 18:2,Book of Daniel 10:5

Individual angels

From theJewish Encyclopedia, entry
"Angelology".

·Michael (archangel)(translation:who is like God?), kindness of God,
and stands up for the children of mankind

·Gabriel(archangel) (translation:God is my strength), performs acts of justice and power

(Only these two angels are mentioned by
name in the Hebrew Bible; the rest are from extra-biblical tradition.)

·Jophiel(translation:Beauty of God), expelledAdam and Evefrom theGarden of Edenholding a flaming sword and punishes
those who transgress against God.

Christianity

Later Christians inherited Jewish understandings of angels,
which in turn may have been partly inherited from the Egyptians.In the early stage, the Christian concept
of an angel characterized the angel as a messenger of God. Later came
identification of individual angelic messengers:Gabriel,Michael,Raphael, andUriel.
Then, in the space of little more than two centuries (from the 3rd to the 5th)
the image of angels took on definite characteristics both in theology and in
art.

According to StAugustine,
" 'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek
the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the name of their office,
it is 'angel': from what they are, 'spirit', from what they do, 'angel'."BasilianFatherThomas Rosicasays, "Angels are very important,
because they provide people with an articulation of the conviction that God is
intimately involved in human life."

By the late 4th century, theChurch Fathersagreed that there were different categories
of angels, with appropriate missions and activities assigned to them. There
was, however, some disagreement regarding the nature of angels. Some argued
that angels had physical bodies,while some maintained that they were entirely
spiritual. Some theologians had proposed that angels were not divine but on the
level of immaterial beings subordinate to theTrinity. The resolution of this Trinitarian dispute
included the development of doctrine about angels.

The angels are represented throughout the Christian Bible as
spiritual beings intermediate between God and men: "You have made him
[man] a little less than the angels ..." (Psalms 8:4-5). The Bible describes the function of
angels as "messengers" but does not indicate when the creation of
angels occurred.Christians
believe that angels are created beings, based on (Psalms 148:2-5;Colossians 1:16): "praise ye Him, all His
angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts ... for He spoke and they were made.
He commanded and they were created ...". TheFourth Lateran Council(1215) declared that the angels were
created beings. The Council's decreeFirmiter
credimus(issued
against theAlbigenses) declared both that angels were created
and that men were created after them. TheFirst Vatican Council(1869) repeated this declaration inDei Filius, the "Dogmatic
constitution on the Catholic faith".

Interaction with angels

“

Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained
angels unawares.—Hebrews 13:2

”

TheNew Testamentincludes many interactions and
conversations between angels and humans. For instance, three separate cases of
angelic interaction deal with the births ofJohn the BaptistandJesus Christ. In Luke 1:11, an angel appears toZechariahto inform him that he will have a child despite his old age, thus
proclaiming the birth ofJohn the Baptist. In Luke 1:26 theArchangel Gabrielvisits theVirgin Maryin theAnnunciationto foretell the birth ofJesus Christ. Angels then proclaim the birth of Jesus in theAdoration of the
shepherdsin Luke 2:10.

According to Matthew 4:11, after Jesus
spent 40 days in the desert, "...the devil left him and, behold, angels
came and ministered to him." In Luke 22:43 an angel comfortsJesus Christduring theAgony in the Garden.In Matthew 28:5 an angel speaks at the empty tomb, following theResurrection of Jesusand the rolling back of the stone by angels.

In 1851Pope Pius IXapproved theChaplet of Saint
Michaelbased on the 1751 reportedprivate revelationfromarchangel Michaelto theCarmelitenun Antonia d'Astonac.In a biography of SaintGemma Galganiwritten by Venerable Germanus Ruoppolo,
Galgani stated that she had spoken with her guardian angel.

Pope John Paul IIemphasized the role of
angels in Catholic teachings in his 1986 address titled "Angels
Participate In History Of Salvation", in which he suggested that
modern mentality should come to see the importance of angels.

According to the Vatican's Congregation
for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, "The practice of
assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases
of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy
Scripture."

The New Church

In theNew Church, extensive information is provided concerning angels and the
spiritual world in which they dwell from many years of spiritual experiences
recounted in the writings ofEmanuel
Swedenborg. All angels are in human
form with a spiritual body, and are not just minds without form.There are different orders of angels
according to the three heavens,and
each angel dwells in one of innumerable societies of angels. Such a society of
angels can appear as one angel as a whole.All
angels originate from the human race, and there is not one angel in heaven who
first did not live in a material body.Moreover,
all children who die not only enter heaven but eventually become angels.The life of angels is that of
usefulness, and their functions are so many that they cannot be enumerated.
However each angel will enter a service according to the use that they had
performed in their earthly life.Names
of angels, such as Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, signify a particular angelic
function rather than an individual being.While living in one's body an
individual has conjunction with heaven through the angels,and with each person, there are at
least two evil spirits and two angels.Temptation
or pains of conscience originates from a conflict between evil spirits and
angels.Due to man's sinful
nature it is dangerous to have open direct communication with angelsand can only be seen when one's spiritual sight has been opened.Thus from moment to moment angels
attempt to lead each person to what is good tacitly using the person's own
thoughts.

Latter Day Saints

Adherents ofThe Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints(LDS Church) view
angels as the messengers of God. They are sent to mankind to deliver messages,
minister to humanity, teach doctrines of salvation, call mankind to repentance,
givepriesthoodkeys, save individuals in perilous times, and guide humankind.

TheDivine Comedy, Paradise (Paradiso), illustration by Gustave
Doré

TheDivine Commedy, Paradise, illustration by Gustave Doré

Latter Day Saints believe that angels
either are the spirits of humans who are deceased or whohave yet to be born,
or are humans who have beenresurrectedortranslatedand have physical bodies of flesh and bones,and accordinglyJoseph Smithtaught that "there are no angels
who minister to this earth but those that do belong or have belonged to
it."As such, Latter Day Saints also believe
thatAdam, the
first man, was and is now the archangelMichael,and thatGabriellived on the earth asNoah.Likewise theAngel Moronifirst lived in apre-Columbian American civilizationas the 5th-century prophet-warrior namedMoroni.

Joseph Smith, Jr.described his first
angelic encounter thus:

"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I
discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the
room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my
bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.

He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a
whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any
earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and
brilliant ...

Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person
was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The
room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his
person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left
me."

Most angelic visitations in the earlyLatter Day Saint movementwere witnessed by Joseph Smith andOliver Cowdery, who both claimed (prior to the
establishment of the church in 1830) to have been visited by the prophetMoroni,John the Baptist, and the apostlesPeter,James, andJohn. Later, after the dedication of theKirtland Temple, Smith and Cowdery claimed to have
been visited byJesus,
and subsequently byMoses,
Elias, andElijah.

People who claimed to have received a visit by an angel include
the other two of theThree Witnesses:David WhitmerandMartin
Harris. Many other Latter Day Saints, both in the early and modern
church, have claimed to have seen angels, though Smith posited that, except in
extenuating circumstances such as therestoration,
mortals teach mortals, spirits teach spirits, and resurrected beings teach
other resurrected beings.

Islam

Angels (Arabic:ملائكة,Malāʾikah) are mentioned many times in theQur'anandHadith. Islam is clear on the nature of angels in that they
are messengers of God. They have nofree will,
and can do only whatGodorders them to do.An example of a task they carry out is that of testing individuals by
granting them abundant wealth and curing their illness.Believing in angels is one of the sixArticles of FaithinIslam.

Some examples of angels in Islam:

·Jibrail: the archangel Gabriel (Jibra'il or Jibril) is an
archangel who serves as a messenger from God.

·Michael (archangel): orMikail, the angel of nature.

·Israfil(Arabic:إسرافيل‎,translit.Isrāfīl‎,Alternate Spelling:IsrafelorSeraphim, Meaning:The Burning One), is the angel of the
trumpet inIslam,though unnamed in theQur'an. Along withMikhail,JibrailandIzra'il, he is one of the four Islamicarchangels.Israfil will blow the trumpet from a
holy rock in Jerusalem to announce the Day of Resurrection.The trumpet is constantly poised at his lips, ready to be blown when God so
orders.

·Darda'il: the angels who travel in the earth searching out
assemblies where people remember God's name.

·Azraelis Azraa-eel عزرائيل orIzrail: the Angel of Death. No authentic reference of this in Quran or Hadeeth.
Only referenced as angel of death or ملكالموت.

·Kiraman Katibin: the two
angels who record a person's good and bad deeds.

·Mu'aqqibat: a class of guardian angels who keep people from
death until its decreed time.

·Munkar and Nakir: the
angels who test the faith of the dead in their graves. They ask the soul of the
dead person questions. If the person fails the questions, the angels make the
man suffer until theDay of Judgement. If the soul passes the questions, he will
have a pleasant time in the grave until the Day of Judgement.

·Ridwan: the angel in charge of maintainingJannator Paradise.

·Maalik: the angel whokeepsorguardshellfire.

·Harut and Marut(Arabic:هاروت وماروت‎‎)
are twoangelsmentioned in the secondSurahof theQur'an, who were sent down to test the people atBabelorBabylonby performing deeds of magic. (SuraAl-Baqara, verse 102.) The Qur'an indicates that although they
warned the Babylonians not to imitate them or do as they were doing, some
members of their audience failed to obey and became sorcerers, thus damning
their own souls.

Bahá'í Faith

In hisBook of CertitudeBahá'u'lláh, founder of theBahá'í Faith, describes angels as people who "have
consumed, with the fire of the love of God, all human traits and
limitations", and have "clothed themselves" with angelic
attributes and have become "endowed with the attributes of the
spiritual".'Abdu'l-Bahádescribes angels as the "confirmations of
God and His celestial powers" and as "blessed beings who have severed
all ties with this nether world" and "been released from the chains
of self", and "revealers of God's abounding grace". The Bahá'í
writings also refer to theConcourse on High, an angelic host, and theMaid of Heavenof Bahá'u'lláh's vision.

Sikhism

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The Messenger of Death will not touch
you; in this way, you shall cross over the terrifying world-ocean, carrying
others across with you.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Siree Raag,
First Mehl, p. 22.

ਅਜਰਾਈਲੁਯਾਰੁਬੰਦੇਜਿਸੁਤੇਰਾਆਧਾਰੁ

Azraa-eel, the Messenger of Death, is
the friend of the human being who has Your support, Lord.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Tilang, Fifth
Mehl, Third House, p. 724.

In a similar vein, theSri Guru Granth Sahibtalks of a figurative Chitar (ਚਿਤ੍ਰ) and Gupat (ਗੁਪਤੁ):

ਚਿਤ੍ਰਗੁਪਤੁਸਭਲਿਖਤੇਲੇਖਾ॥

ਭਗਤਜਨਾਕਉਦ੍ਰਿਸਟਿਨਪੇਖਾ

Chitar and Gupat, the recording angels
of the conscious and the unconscious, write the accounts of all mortal beings,
/ but they cannot even see the Lord's humble devotees.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Aasaa, Fifth
Mehl, Panch-Pada, p. 393.

However,Sikhismhas never had a literal system of angels,
preferring guidance without explicit appeal to supernatural orders or beings.

Esotericism

Hermetic Qabalah

According to theKabbalahas described by theGolden Dawnthere are tenarchangels, each commanding one of the choir of angels and
corresponding to one of theSephirot. It is similar to the Jewish angelic hierarchy.

Rank

Choir of Angels

Translation

Archangel

Sephirah

1

HayotHa Kodesh

Holy Living Ones

Metatron

Keter

2

Ophanim

Wheels

Raziel

Chokmah

3

Erelim

Brave ones

Tzaphkiel

Binah

4

Hashmallim

Glowing ones, Amber ones

Tzadkiel

Chesed

5

Seraphim

Burning Ones

Khamael

Gevurah

6

Malakim

Messengers, angels

Raphael

Tipheret

7

Elohim

Godly Beings

Uriel

Netzach

8

Bene Elohim

Sons of Elohim

Michael

Hod

9

Cherubim

Gabriel

Yesod

10

Ishim

Men (man-like beings, phonetically
similar to "fires")

Sandalphon

Malkuth

Theosophy

In the teachings of the Theosophical Society,Devasare
regarded as living either in theatmospheresof theplanetsof thesolar system(Planetary
Angels) or inside theSun(Solar Angels) and they help to
guide the operation of the processes ofnaturesuch as
the process ofevolutionand the
growth ofplants; their appearance is reputedly like colored
flames about the size of a human. It is believed by Theosophists that devas can
be observed when thethird eyeis
activated. Some (but not most) devas originally incarnated ashuman beings.

It is believed by Theosophists thatnature spirits,elementals(gnomes,undines,sylphs, andsalamanders),
andfairiescan be also be observed when thethird eyeis
activated.]It is maintained by
Theosophists that these less evolutionarily developed beings have never been
previously incarnated as humans; they are regarded as being on a separate line
of spiritual evolution called the "deva evolution"; eventually, as
theirsoulsadvance
as theyreincarnate, it is believed they will incarnate as
devas.

It is asserted by Theosophists that all of the above-mentioned
beings possessetheric bodiesthat are composed ofetheric matter, a type of matter finer and
more pure that is composed of smaller particles than ordinaryphysical plane matter.

Brahma
Kumaris

TheBrahma Kumarisuses the
term "angel" to refer to a perfect, or complete state of the human
being, which they believe can be attained through a connection with God.

In art

In an address during a General Audience
of 6 August 1986, entitled "Angels participate in the history of
salvation", Pope John Paul II explained that "[T]he angels have no
'body' (even if, in particular circumstances, they reveal themselves under
visible forms because of their mission for the good of people)."Angels are however often depicted in painting and sculpture as male humans.
Christian art perhaps reflects the descriptions inRevelation4:6–8 of theFour Living Creatures(Greek:τὰ τέσσαρα ζῷα) and the descriptions in the Hebrew
Bible ofcherubimandseraphim(thechayotinEzekiel'sMerkabahvision and the Seraphim ofIsaiah). However, while cherubim and seraphim have wings in
the Bible, no angel is mentioned as having wings.

The earliest known Christian image of an
angel—in theCubicolo dell'Annunziazionein theCatacomb of Priscilla(mid-3rd century)—is without wings. In that same period, representations of
angels onsarcophagi, lamps andreliquariesalso show them without wings,as for example the angel in theSacrifice of Isaacscene in theSarcophagus of Junius
Bassus(although the side view of the
Sarcophagus shows winged angelic figures).

The earliest known representation of
angels with wings is on the "Prince's Sarcophagus", discovered in the
1930s at Sarigüzel, nearIstanbul, and attributed to the time ofTheodosius I(379–395).From that period on,
Christian art has represented angels mostly with wings, as in the cycle of
mosaics in theBasilica of Saint Mary
Major(432–440).Four- and six-winged
angels, drawn from the higher grades of angels (especiallycherubimandseraphim) and often showing only their faces and wings, are
derived from Persian art and are usually shown only inheavenly contexts,
as opposed to performing tasks on earth. They often appear in thependentivesof churchdomesorsemi-domes. Prior to the Judeo-Christian tradition, in the
Greek world the goddessNikeand the godsErosandThanatoswere also depicted in human-like form
with wings.

They manifest a
nature's sublimity. That is why Gabriel is represented with wings. Not that
angels have wings, but that you may know that they leave the heights and the
most elevated dwelling to approach human nature. Accordingly, the wings
attributed to these powers have no other meaning than to indicate the sublimity
of their nature.

Angels are typically depicted in Mormon
art as having no wings based on a quote from Joseph Smith ("An angel of
God never has wings").

In terms of their clothing, angels,
especially the Archangel Michael, were depicted as military-style agents of God
and came to be shown wearingLate Antiquemilitary uniform. This uniform could be
the normal military dress, with a tunic to about the knees, an armour
breastplate andpteruges, but was often the specific dress of the bodyguard of
theByzantine Emperor, with a long tunic and theloros, the long gold and jewelledpalliumrestricted to the Imperial family and
their closest guards. The basic military dress was shown in Western art into
theBaroqueperiod and beyond (see
Reni picture above), and up to the present day inEastern Orthodoxicons. Other angels came to be conventionally depicted in long
robes, and in the later Middle Ages they often wear the vestments of adeacon, acopeover adalmatic; this costume was used especially forGabrielinAnnunciationscenes—for example theAnnunciation in
WashingtonbyJan van Eyck.

The
extraordinary-lookingCherubim(immediately to the left of Ezekiel) and Ophanim (the
nested-wheels) appear in thechariot visionofEzekiel.

Some types of angels are described as
possessing more unusual or frightening attributes, such as the fiery bodies of
theSeraphim, and the wheel-like structures of
theOphanim.